Braving Slaika
by thundaflare
Summary: Sophia and Bill are brother and sister. They dream of becoming a great Coordinator and Trainer in the Pokémon world. They will have to brave a region called Slaika, which was recently discovered. Will they be able to tie in with the rest of the events happening out there? What secrets will they find in the Slaika Region?
1. Prologue

**Prologue for the Fanfic "Braving Slaika":**

**~ Something new? ~**

Sophia is a very special girl. As a 7 year-old girl, her greatest dream is to become a Pokémon Coordinator, while exploring the Pokémon World and making friends along the way. That would also include learning as much as possible about these creatures. However, would it ever happen or was it only a misplaced dream of hers?

"Mom, when can I leave home? I'm tired of being enclosed _here_!", Sophia complains to her mother, combing her blonde hair with her left hand in a nervous gesture.

"Daughter, why do you want to leave home? Do you feel bad in Silimanite Town?", Sophia's mother, Bella asks her, curious about her daughter's answers.

"Mom... I'm fine being indoors, but I would like to be able to go play outside, to get to know the world around me better!", Sophia happily informs her mother, her hazelnut-colored almond-shaped eyes showing excitement.

"You and your brother have not stopped talking about _that_ since you discovered those creatures existed... Why do you two have so much interest in learning more about them?", Sophia's mother inquires her daughter.

"Because...! Pokémon are such cool creatures! Just imagining us going on a journey with them gets me all excited... Besides, we would learn a lot from our journeys, and we could fulfil our dreams! That won´t happen when we´re stuck here..." Sophia tries to convince her mother, trying to put as much emphasis on her excitement as possible.

"You and your brother have a lot to learn before you can receive your first Pokémon and become Pokémon Trainers. It's not as easy as you think, children. You do not just snap your fingers for that to happen!", her mother lets her know, as if she didn't already. "However, I think you'll do great learning what you need to know."

"Thanks for the support and advice you have given me! I know it will not be easy, but I will not give up!", Sophia shouts, more excited than ever with the idea of starting a journey of her own.

"Very well, daughter! That's the way to think about it!" her mother exclaims.

Sophia's brother, Bill, is coming down the stairs, from his room. At the bottom of them, in the living room, his mother and sister are still talking animatedly.

"Mother... _I_ am the one who wants to be is a Pokémon Trainer. Sophia wants to be a _Pokémon Coordinator_...", Bill informs his mother, showing he had heard all their conversation from the beginning.

"Ah... What's the difference?", their mother asks with a confused look on her face, pretending not to know, to test her daughter's knowledge.

"Mother... Trainers aim to earn badges in Pokémon Gyms to take part in the Pokémon League, in the Region where they are, while Coordinators aspire to take part in the Grand Festival, through participation in Pokémon Contests.", Sophia explains to her mother.

"We will both get there! I'm _sure_ of it!", Bill shouts, turning to his sister. They then both start laughing in the living room. Their mother had no choice than to look at them smiling, thinking about what she should do about their dreams.

Sophia still remembered the moment, a year before, when she had first heard about Pokémon Coordinators.

**FLASHBACK**

It had been in a summer morning. The weather had been really hot and she had wanted to ask her mother whether she could eat an ice cream before lunch. Her mother, after giving it to her, had gone to the living room.

Later, Sophia's tall figure stood next to the living room's entrance, before she entered that room, to sit next to her mother, in one of the sofas. Her mother, at first, had paid no attention to her daughter, as she was preparing to play a record in the television, to show Sophia. Sophia thought it strange her mother had not paid attention to her arrival at the living room, because she usually did.

"Mom… _What_… ?", Sophia tries to ask her mother, but leaves her question incomplete. The record playing in the TV's screen had drawn her attention.

In it, her mother was standing in a stage, in some show room. The stage was pretty big. Part of its floor was marked with a Pokéball design and in its left side, three men were sitting in chairs, looking carefully and attentively everywhere around them. The huge crowd sitting in front of the stage was going crazy, anxiously waiting for something to start.

Suddenly, her mother tossed into the air a pink Pokéball with a heart drawn on its top. It had a Heart Seal placed there. Hearts started coming out of it, before flowing through the room. Then a little dog-like brown creature appeared in front of her mother, waving its tail cutely, waiting for a command to be ordered to him. He had a furry tail and medium, almond-shaped, expressive eyes, whose irises were brown-colored. The fur in his tail's tip was beige, so as the fur around his neck. He resembled a fox or a dog.

"Go, Eevee! Use Shadow Ball!", Sophia's mother orders, pointing to the crowd.

The dog-like Pokémon opens his mouth and, after a while, energy orbs with a purple-black tone of color start coming out of it. The shadow balls spiralled upwards, enabling the Eevee to jump from ball to ball, which it did, elegantly.

"Now, Eevee! Finish with Swift!"

The Eevee opens his mouth and, this time, yellow stars, glowing brightly, come out of it. He then starts, similarly as before, to jump elegantly from orb to orb, this time downwards. The moment he manages to get to stand on the stage, on his fours, the stars collide with the orbs, creating a small explosion. Small bits of light, in white, pink, yellow, blue, green and purple colors, descend, illuminating the Eevee's fur as a rainbow would. Then the TV's screen goes blank.

"Wow!", is the only word Sophia is able to shout after having seen such a marvel.

"Did you like it?", Sophia's mother asks her, smiling due to her daughter's interest.

"I loved it!", Sophia happily exclaims, causing her mother to smile even more.

"I am a Pokémon Coordinator, Sophia. That was my latest performance in a Pokémon Contest.", Sophia's mother informs, gesturing as she caressed her daughter's head.

"What's that, mum?", Sophia interestedly asks her mother.

"Coordinators aim to show their Pokémon's best appearance(s), by showing their move combinations in a unique and imaginative way", is her mother's explanation.

"I want to be one myself.", Sophia tells her mother, though she didn't have to. Her mother had already known so. That was why she showed Sophia _that_ one record. She knew there was no way her daughter could have disliked such a kind of show.

**End of flashback**

"What Pokémon do you two wish to start your journeys with?", Bella asks her children, smiling with curiosity.

Neither Sophia nor Bill were able to answer this question. They had not given it much thought yet. Their mother knew their choice was nothing too easy, considering the huge number of Pokémon existent.

"No matter which one I choose I´m sure we´ll be good friends!", Sophia declares, after thinking in an answer for a little while.

"Mine will have a personality similar to mine.", Bill declares, after Sophia. They were both smiling again by now. They knew what they were expecting to happen.

Their mother was unable to speak for some time and when she managed to say something, she smiled and told their children:

"What matters is that you have to be responsible. You should be really careful with the Pokémon you choose as your first.", Bella started, before pointed to the house's front garden. After a time, she continued. "Your first Pokémon choice is very important, as it might change the way you continue your journeys. It also shows a lot of what you are like as a person. Anyway: in the world, there are many places to find and explore. Whatever your first Pokémon choice is, it is always be nice to have at least one good friend you can trust when you need.

X-X

"Sir... I mean... boss!"

"Yes, Roger?"

"The cloning machine is ready to work again when you want it to. When should that be?"

"Not yet. Test all the proceedings until I order Project S1 to get underway!"

"Yes, boss! Right away!"

"Roger! Come here now!"

"Huh? Is something the problem, boss?"

"You said you'd successfully cloned that Scyther."

"I did and that's true!"

"Then, how it is possible this machine ended up so destroyed?"

"The cloned Scyther ended up with twice the strength and the size it was supposed to."

"Well, what are you wanting for? Bring it back here (alive) at all costs!"

X-X

"Boss, we have a problem!", two Team Thunder Tempest grunts tell Jiaho, smiling nervously in his direction.

"How? I only ordered you to catch a Scyther, fools!", Jiaho angrily shouts. That mission was really important for Team Thunder Tempest at that moment and it had failed thanks to those two grunts. Its goal had been to capture a Scyther. But not any Scyther: this specific one. Its strength was two times bigger than it was normally, as well as its size.

"We caged it inside a net… But…", the grunts tried to excuse themselves.

"It's a Scyther! Its hands are as sharp as scythes! Were you expecting it not to be able to cut it in seconds?", Jiaho asks the grunts. He was really not thinking those two were worth keeping as Team Team Thunder Tempest grunts if they could not even capture a Scyther. However, he gave them some more time.

What Pokémon will be Sophia's and Bill's first one? Will they show they have what it takes to make their dreams come true? What is Team Thunder Tempest up to?

**Review for Sophia's sake! Scyther says it is a cutting-edge action...**


	2. Chapter 1 - Ready&Steady

**Chapter 1 – Fanfic "Braving Slaika":**

**~ Ready&Steady ~**

"Mum! Can we go out and play together?", Sophia and Bill simultaneously ask their mother, Bella Mendler.

"Yes. But be careful!"

"We will be, mum!"

Before they leave they take two of their mother's empty Pokéballs with them. They were conveniently placed on one of the living room's sofas, who knows why.

Sophia and Bill decide to explore the grove next to their house. The trees' leaves follow the soft breeze melody that flows through the area. Pidgey fly above their heads.

"I think we _could_ play tag.", Sophia says to her brother. She's really not worried about that grove, it usually had nothing that could pose a threat to either of them. A little while after she had finished thinking this, Bill touches her clothes and shouts to her "You're it!", before starting to run away from her.

They both start playing happily, unaware that something not so good could later happen. Sophia got lost and forced her brother to try to find out where she could be. It didn't delay a lot of time, because, in a matter of seconds, he heard her shouting panicked "Bill! Help me!".

Bill runs in the sound's direction as fast as possible and finally discovers that his sister is about to be attacked by the two Team Thunder Tempest grunts.

"Leave my sister alone! Or else…", Bill shouts in the grunts' direction.

"Or else, what?", they sarcastically ask him before laughing.

Bill was just _about_ to punch them, but, before he could, a Scyther suddenly appeared and jumped in front of Sophia. It pretended to be preparing to slash them, so as to protect Sophia and Bill. The grunts start runnning away, aware that a slash from _that_ Scyther would hurt a lot. However...

"Wow! A Scyther!", Sophia and Bill exclaim, impressed. However, they see that…

"Don't be afraid!", Sophia tries to calm down the grass-green creature similar to a praying-mantis. She was stroking it while calmly talking. The Scyther was a little calmer but still very anxious. It looks to the blue noon sky with a thinking look. Those trees…

"I need protection! I want to stay with you, Sophia!", it declares in Sophia's direction, calmer than ever. It embraces Sophia, while…

"Sister! That Scyther just spoke in our language!", Bill exclaims surprised.

_Come to think of it, Pokémon usually don't speak in human language at all. Or do they?_

"And how does it know my name? And how's such a rare Pokémon here?", Sophia wonders, now even more surprised as well.

"Hey, kids! We came here to get that Scyther! And if you don't give if willingly, we'll have to battle it!"

"Hhmm..."

"I wanna battle them... with you... Sophia!"

"What!?"

The grunts throws too Pokéballs forward. When they open, a Cottonee and a Psyduck come out.

Bill points his Pokédex at the Cottonee.

"_When attacked, it escapes by shooting cotton from its body. The cotton serves as _  
_a decoy to distract the attacker. They go wherever the wind takes them. On rainy days, their bodies are heavier, _  
_so they take shelter beneath big trees._"

The cotton-plant-like Cottonee shakes its body and lets loose a trail of cotton balls.

"Overwhelmed by enigmatic abilities, it suffers a constant headache. It sometimes  
uses mysterious powers. When headaches stimulate its brain cells, which are usually inactive, it can use  
a mysterious power."

The duck-like Psyduck makes a dumb-funny face and slightly tilts its head.

"Are you ready for this battle, Scyther?"

"I am. And you?"

"I'm not sure if I am."

"Come on, sis'! Go for it!", Bill cheers his sister up.

"Ok! Scyther, use U-turn!"

"Tsk! That won't work! Evade that attack, Cottonee!"

"You too, Psyduck!"

The two leave the Scyther's attack range, but he was smarter than that. He didn't do a U-turn at all. He only pretended to. He waited for his two opponents to settle down in their current position. When they let their guards down, he flapped his wings, and, with a very surprising burst of speed, did a U-turn, causing damage to both the Cottonee and the Psyduck, damaging the Cottone way more than the Psyduck.

"Get up you two! Use Scratch, Psyduck!"

"Use Absorb, Cottonee!"

The Psyduck projects his small claws forward and attempts to scratch the Scyther.

The Cottonee creates a small grass-green-colored aura around itself and gets closer to the Scyther.

However, the Scyther was too fast for their attacks to even hit it, and they colided with each other, their attacks hitting each other. Then, they fainted.

"AW MAN!"

"Come on, let's get out of here!"

The two grunts run away, leaving behind the extremely happy Scyther, Sophia and Bill.

"You were impressive, Scyther!"  
"Thanks!"

"May I be your first Pokémon?"

"What? How do you trust me so much already?"

"I only now I do."

Sophia throws a Pokéball at the Scyther. The item touches its body and, after a huge white light wave, Scyther is transported to the insides of the Pokéball. Its button is glowing with an intermittent red light. After some time, the light goes off. There are no signs of Scyther's presence outside of the Pokéball. Sophia grabs hold of the Pokéball and excitedly elevates it in the air.

"I did it! I caught my first Pokémon!", she shouts.

"Way to go, sister!", her brother exclaims.

They now had to get Bill's first Pokémon. Since they didn't know how much the grove had changed since the last time they had entered it, they kept walking carefully.

"Damn! This grove is really big! It would be really easy for us to get lost in here!", Bill worriedly informs Sophia.

"I've got this Scyther with me brother! Don't worry!", Sophia calmly answers.

She looks straight forward… and sees a glade. It was similar to most of the ones they'd already seen: various kinds of trees were next to it. At a corner, however, something very unique could be found. A small lake, whose water was so crystalline they could see their reflections in its surface, inside of which was swimming a small creature. It was dragon-like, its belly and face were white and the rest of its body was pale-blue. That one was the only Pokémon they could see in that area of the grove.

"Hi!", the little Pokémon shouts happily towards Bill and Sophia. They smile back and… recognize it immediately. It was a Dratini, a rarely seen Pokémon.

"Yes! Finally! The time has come for me to catch my first Pokémon!", Bill shouts, throwing another of the Pokéballs towards Dratini.

It swiftly swims out of its way and hits it with its tail. Then, it jumps out of the water and lands in Sophia's arms. The Pokéball touches its body and catches it.

"Why did you just catch _my_ first Pokémon?", Bill angrily asks his sister.

"I didn't! Dratini entered the Pokéball in my arms out of its own free will!", She calmly answers her brother.

"It's just unfair! You fastly got two Pokémon of your own… and I still have none!", Bills explains his feelings to his sister.

"Oh, come on! Cheer up! You'll get one in no time!", Sophia assures her brother.

Suddenly, they sense someone approaching them. Bill got nervous instantly because he knew it could be someone from Team Thunder Tempest, trying to bother them again. This human figure was an old man. He was tall and slim. His brown-colored irises gave out a strange invisible glow.

"Professor Garf!", both kids shouted at his sight.

Upon seeing them, he gestured happily in their direction.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?", he asks Sophia and Bill. He really had no idea.

"We came to play here.", Sophia calmly explains.

"We beat twice two Team Thunder Tempest grunts using one of Sophia's Pokémon!", Bill adds.

"Wait! You battled _Team Thunder Tempest grunts twice in a row and won both times_? Sophia has _two_ Pokémon?", Professor Garf wonders astonished.

"Yeah! Do you want to see them?", Sophia suggests.

He nods while she temporarily frees the Scyther and the Dratini out of their Pokéballs. Professor Oak keeps stroking them some time before being able to speak. They were both really happy, he could see. He couldn't understand how a girl previously as timid as Sophia was could have caught such two Pokémon.

"These two Pokémon have already bonded deeply with you. I don't doubt you must have taken good care of them so far.", he was finally able to declare, after spending some time thinking.

He then asks Bill, smilling: "Can I please see your Pokémon?", to what he answers "I'd gladly let you do so if I had at least one.".

"Would you _like_ to have one?", Professor Garf asks Bill.

"Sure thing!", he cheerfully exclaims as an answer.

"Well, Bill… You may choose one between these three.", Professor Garf tells him, taking three Pokéballs out of his bag. One of them had a fist-like symbol. Another, a flare-like symbol. The last one, a thunder-like symbol.

"May I see the three of them before choosing?", Bill kindly asks him.

"Sure you can.", Professor Garf answers, pointing to the three Pokéballs. "Choose which you want."

Bill tosses the Pokémon's Pokéballs to the air one by one. The first one frees a creature whose body was grey and which had muscles all over it. It kept punching the air. The second one frees a dog-like creature whose furry body was red-colored and black-strayed. Its tail was furry as well but cream-colored. It unleashed a group of orange-red flames as it saw Bill. The last Pokéball frees a creature similar to a Pokéball. It let out a small shock upon seeing Bill.

"So, which do you want?", Professor Garf asks Bill.

"Uh…", Bill was hesitating. "Machop, Growlithe or Voltorb?", he asks himself, thinking aloud.

"Take your time boy.", Professor Garf tells him.

Bill had to observe the three of them for a very long time before being able to choose only one. Then with a glow in his eyes, he shouts:

"Come on, Machop!", while pointing towards the first creature. Machop shows off one more punch in the air before walking slowly in Bill's direction. They embrace each other.

"Ok, then. Is Machop your choice?", Professor Garf asks Bill, trying to be sure whether Bill knew what he was choosing.

That Machop was quite stubborn and Bill could have some difficulty making it obey him. But if he was a good Trainer, he'd be able to end up bonding with it.

"Sure!", Bill answers.

He knew what kind of choice he was making. It was his personality that was making him feel the best partner for him was Machop.

"Ok. So here is Machop's Pokéball", Professor Garf says, handing the item to Bill. "There you have five empty Pokéballs so that you can complete your Pokémon Party.", he adds, also giving them to him.

"Pokémon Party?"

"Yes, 'Pokémon Party' is the name given to the group of six Pokémon you can carry with you either inside of Pokéballs or outside of them."

"May you give me empty Pokéballs too?", Sophia kindly asks Professor Garf.

He nods before handing four of them to her. She thanks him.

"I've got one more gift for you.", Professor Garf tells them.

He was certain they'd want it.

"It's a Pokédex. It enables you to see tons of useful information both on the Pokémon and on the areas surrounding you.", he explains after giving one to each of the kids.

He then explained to Sophia she'd have to go to Ulwin City if she wanted to become an official Pokémon Coordinator. Then he asked them whether they could get him an order he'd made in that city's Pokémon Mart. They assured him they would do so.

**What will happen next? I guess you should continue reading this fanfic if you want to discover.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Officially for me

**Chapter 2 for the Fanfic "Braving Slaika"**

**~ Officially for me ~**

"Children… Was Professor Garf _the one_ who gave you these Pokémon?", Bella asks Sophia and Bill, while pointing down towards Scyther, Dratini and Machop. The three of them nod, so there's no need for Sophia and Bill to answer that question themselves. They decided not to tell their mother neither that they had fought Team Thunder Tempest grunts nor that Sophia had caught herself her two first Pokémon. She would be too mad with them if she knew.

"Mum, we're now going to head to Ulwin City. Do you need us to bring you anything?", Sophia asks Bella.

"No. I've still got everything I need here.", she answers her daughter.

"Ok, then…", Bill says as they both start leaving their house.

Northwest of it, was located the town's exit. In front of it, tons of tall grasses were growing. Sophia and Bill carefully walk inside of the tall grass patches, because they know wild Pokémon could appear next to them and they don't know what kind of them live in this route.

They notice they only have to pass through 5 sections of the route, each with tall grass zones, to get to Ulwin City. Almost at the end of the first one, they are challenged to a Pokémon battle by a little boy. He had brown hair and his irises's color matched his hair's.

"I choose you, Rattata!", the boy shouts, freeing in front of him a little rodent-like creature. Its belly and face were white and the rest of its body was purple. A single pair of incisor teeth could be seen at the front of its mouth.

"Go for it, Machop!", Bill shouts, freeing his first Pokémon partner in front of the boy's Rattata.

Bill takes out his Pokédex. "_Rattata. Normal-type. Rattata like to take food away from foolish human beings. They are capable of generating lots of descendants in a short period._"

Since the boy was looking confused at his Machop, Bill played its Pokédex entry as well. "_Machop. Fighting-type. Machop have enough strength to hurl a medium-sized adult human. They spend most of their time practicing martial arts to train their muscles, which never get tired._"

"Rattata, Tackle it!", the boy orders his Pokémon.

It starts running towards Bill's Machop. However, Machop, grabs hold of Rattata and throws it in the air, before jumping and punching it in the face. Rattata falls unconscious on the ground. It didn't have a single bruise or slash, though.

"Rattata!", the boy worriedly grabs his Pokémon in his arms.

"Don't worry! It is okay!", Bill assures the boy. He nods in response and Sophia and Bill keep walking. At the end of the second section of the route, they find a girl who was ten years old, the same age as theirs.

"Hi! My name's Isys!", the girls exclaims.

Bill and Sophia didn't need to look again at her to notice who she was talking to.

"I'm Sophia.", Sophia informs Isys.

Pointing to her brother, she adds "This is Bill, my brother."

"Are you going to register yourself as an official Pokémon Coordinator?", Isys asks Sophia.

"Yes.", she answers happily.

"Do you know you will have to take part in a Pokémon Contest to be accepted as an Official Coordinator?", Isys inquires.

"I didn't. Can you tell me more about that?", Sophia requests Isys. She really is interested in knowing what she must do to take her first step in the direction she wants: the one which enables her to possibly fulfill her dream.

"Many people ranging from young to not so young and coming from various locations try to become Official Coordinators. So as to be accepted as so, they need to show their abilities in front of a crowd in Viridian City. Your performance will be judged by the crowd and by an experienced Coordinator. If you get a lot of positive feedback, you'll be registered as one. Otherwise, you should just train a little more.", Isys explains the essential of it to Sophia.

Sophia is a little nervous. She has never taken part in a Pokémon Contest and more importantly, fulfilling her dream depended on her skills as a Pokémon Coordinator. She didn't know whether those skills where good enough. Everything could just fall apart before she even had a chance to come close to make her dreams come true. She really needed to be more optimistic for her own sake. Negativism would take her nowhere.

"I got it. Thanks a lot.", Sophia says before Bill and Isys could get really worried about her.

"Do you have any idea already?", Bill asks his sister, ready to help her out if she needed.

Sophia didn't have time to think about what she should answer: before she could she felt an intense pain in her head and then her vision started to blur. She passed out.

X-X

Sophia had passed out for about half an hour when she regained consciousness. She is lying down in one of Viridian City's Pokémon Center's beds, surrounded by Bill, Isys, a nurse, Joy, and two Pokémon. The last three characters kept walking from here to there constantly checking Sophia's vital constants. All seemed well, as they showed no signs of worry.

"You should eat this.", Nurse Joy suggests, while one of the Pokémon hands Sophia a blue berry. She holds it in one of her hands for a few seconds before eating it. She immediately notices the berry was juicy and sweet.

She thanks the two round pink Pokémon. Each of them had a white egg encased next to the belly.

"_Chansey – Normal-type. Chansey's eggs are highly nutritious and filled with happiness. They give kind people and Pokémon that happiness_."

"Why did I pass out?", Sophia asks her friends. She had already tried to recall something but was able to remember nothing.

"Team Thunder Tempest paralysed you with Stun Spore from one of their Pokémon and then made it attack you so you wouldn't fight back.", Bill explains calmly.

Sophia seems to be angry.

"We managed to protect your Pokémon from them. They wanted them but we only allowed them to escape from us."

"Why do _those freaks _keep wanting to steal my Pokémon?", Sophia wonders as she tries to stand up.

She, however, falls backwards towards the bed, screaming in a lot of pain. She couldn't stand up at all.

"Sister! Are you feeling okay?", Bill asks her, trying to understand what had just happened.

She was unable to speak. As the monitor at the right side of her bed showed a maximum in Sophia's blood pressure, she passed out again.

X-X

At Viridian City, but at a building far away from the Pokémon Center, Jiaho, Team Thunder Tempest's leader, was hearing the report being given by two of his association's grunts. They'd failed their second mission and would be assigned no more.

"You're fired.", Jiaho declares.

The two grunts are left alone and wordless in front of the entrance of the headquarters of the association they'd belonged to for 10 years. They would get their revenge over Jiaho and his next hugely cruel plans would be disrupted.

X-X

Sophia felt no more pain. Nurse Joy and her assistants Chansey had performed healing techniques in Sophia's wounded legs. She earlier was unable to walk, but she could now.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy.", Sophia happily says. Then she looks at the pink Pokémon in front of her and thanks them (again) as well.

"Now we should get you registered.", Bill suggests his sister, as Sophia sits on the bed and stands up.

"Oh… You want to be a Pokémon Coordinator?", Nurse Joy asks her in a surprised tone of voice.

"Sure! And I'll be the best of them all!", Sophia shouts.

Everybody else would have looked in her direction, if there was someone besides them in the room.

They left the bedroom, walked through the corridor, descended the staircase and soon found themselves in the Pokémon Center's hall. They noticed it was pretty big. Its floor was made of polished oak wood. The walls were decorated with portraits of famous people. Red, the Kanto Region's Champion, and Wallace, a Top Coordinator from the Hoenn Region were represented there.

There were various computers and machines. Some of them enabled Pokémon trades between Trainers and Coordinators. Those were located at the hall's left side. At the hall's right side were located machines for videocalls. On the wall above them were sculptured four wood figures, all bird-like Pokémon.

"So, your name's Sophia Mendler?", Nurse Joys asks Sophia.

"Yes.", Sophia replies.

"Where are you from? How old are you?", Sophia is asked.

"I'm from Pallet Town and I'm 10 years old.", she informs Nurse Joy.

"Ok. Here is your Coordinator ID card.", Nurse Joy informs Sophia, handing it to her. "It's only to be used in the Admission Contest."

X-X

Sophia is getting ready for her first Pokémon Contest performance. In a plaza in Viridian City. She is surrounded by various types of people and Pokémon, all in a hurry to get all their preparations completed. Sophia gets called onto the stage. She nervously walks until she is on the stage. Everyone there is now looking attentively at her.

"Go, Scyther!", Sophia shouts, starting her performance. Scyther leaves his Pokéball, tossed into the air by Sophia, and shows off its blinding speed by running around. The cloud applauds both Scyther and Sophia. She throws a bunch of colored paper sheets towards the mantis-like creature and orders it "Use Slash!". Scyther fastly moves its scythe-like hands and its sword-like arms and cuts the paper runs in small pieces in mere seconds. Scyther then jumps and when its fall on the stage's wooden floor the pieces of paper fall over the stage. The crowd excitedly applauds Scyther and Sophia and the Top Coordinator gives Sophia and official Contest ribbon case and official Coordinator ID card. Isys gets hers too.

**What will happen next? Continue reading this fanfic and you shall discover. Prepare yourself for a lot of ex-Scyther-ment!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Main Name, Same Domain

**Chapter 3 for the Fanfic "Braving Slaika"**

**~ Main Name, Same Domain ~**

Sophia and Bill are getting ready to go to bed. Their Pokémon are scared.

"What if Team Thunder Tempest _tries_ to come here and _manages_ to steal me?", Scyther wonders as he wanders nervously through the bedroom. After some seconds he stops and looks at Dratini and Machop to analyze their reactions to this.

"I'm not worried. All of us here _can_ protect you. Besides, Machop and me aren't very rare so… there's really no _big_ interest of them in stealing us.", is Dratini's reaction. Her draconic nice face really _looked_ relaxed.

"Well, that's one point _and a half_ you've got there. It's true all of us here can protect me. However, while Machop's not very rare you are a Dratini… so, indeed, you are rare enough to be of big interest to them.", is Scyther's comeback.

"If… I-I'm rare… they must… want to come and steal me!", Dratini anxiously shouts. She was almost panicking at the thought of the horrendous things Team Thunder Tempest could do to her.

"Scyther… told me… what he heard Team Thunder Tempest grunts say about what they plan to do to him…", Machop declares. He was about to continue… but…

"This is not the time to talk about such a matter.", Bill assures the Pokémon, trying to relax them, as well as him as his sister.

"Yeah… That's right… You should be getting ready to sleep.", Sophia starts calmly enough. Using the same tone of voice, she finishes. "And I _doubt_ that's going to make you sleepy…"

X-X

Team Thunder Tempest grunts have had a difficult time accomplishing their missions' objectives. As a result of one of them, though, they were able to gather the materials needed to build one of the machines they'll use in the organization's first big main plan in a long time. During that mission, they nearly got by the Kanto Region's police. That's why they'll need to keep doing small jobs for the time being. Hopefully (or unfortunately) it could work.

X-X

Sophia and Bill have just woken up. They slept in one Viridian City's Pokémon Center's bedrooms. They were alone in this specific bedroom.

"Where are our Pokémon?", Bill wonders.

Sophia shows a surprised look before noticed her brother was right. They were completely alone in the bedroom and their Pokémon were missing. She really didn't know neither how that had happen nor where they were. Bill didn't need an answer from his sister: her surprised reaction had already told him she didn't know. Isys enters their bedroom, accompanied by Nurse Joy.

"Did you two lose your Pokémon as well?", Isys asks Sophia and Bill. "If you did I think you'd better listen to Nurse Joy."

"The police thinks the Pokémon from this area were stolen by a Pokémon hunter.", Nurse Joy explains them after she had gotten their full attention.

"What can we do to help saving them?", Sophia asks before trading a few glances with her brother.

"You must be careful and leave this to the authorities." Nurse Joy tells them.

After hearing her saying this, they almost flinch at the thought: their Pokémon could be endangered, even severely hurt.

"We can't let them be endangered.", Bill says, expressing his (and Sophia's) opinion.

"They won't be, because the police are capable of taking care of this situation."

"But…", Sophia and Bill start at the same time.

"Please promise you won't do anything you'll regret."

X-X

"These Pokémon will be helpful…", a man whispers, mainly to himself. The Pokémon next to him were all trying, but failing, to escape, while being put inside of metal cages. Among them were three Pokémon we know: a Machop, a Dratini and a Scyther. All of them were unable to speak due to their fear of the man in front of them. Even being inside of a cage, the three Pokémon couldn't help it. The aspect of the man was too intimidating.

A fierce roar is heard in the Viridian Forest, the place where the man was hiding. Then, a group of orange-red flames hits the man and the cages, causing the man to pass out and the Pokémon to be freed. Then, the three darling are carried on a Pokémon's back.

X-X

"The missing Pokémon have been found.", Nurse Joy informs all the people who had waited for that moment in the Pokémon Center's hall. A lot of them run in her direction and hold their Pokéballs. They embrace them. Sophia, Isys and Bill also kiss theirs.

"What a relief!", Sophia tells her Pokéballs. "I missed you _so_ much! I was _so_ worried you'd gotten hurt!"

"Same here.", Bill and Isys comment after exchanging glances with her and with each other.

"Was that Pokémon hunter the one who'd stolen them? Did they get psychologically hurt?", Isys asks the nurse.

Sophia gets paler. Bill also knows why.

"No. But you should let them rest for a day.", she suggests. Sophia regains her normal skin's tone of color.

"They must have been so scared!", Sophia exclaims, after spending some moments staring blankly at nowhere in particular.

"We have to keep that hunter from taking our Pokémon away again.", Bill decides.

"But how?", Isys asks him.

Sophia stares first in her direction, then in her brother's and smiles. She has the knowledge of what her brother is thinking and it could work. They still had to agree on the smallest details, but all the part of the plan went well together. The hunter would find it difficult…

X-X

"How did _that_ police officer and _that_ canine friend of hers dare take _those_ Pokémon away from _me_? They'll regret is so much!", the same man from before shouts. He had a nasty smile placed in his face and his voice visibly displayed anger. He was still hidden in the Viridian Forest in a different zone of it.

X-X

"Sophia, look out the evening sky!", Bill excitedly shouts, smiling. They had been training since noon. Their plan was to train so their Pokémon would get stronger. They thought maybe that way the hunter (as well as Team Thunder Tempest) would give up trying to steal them.

Now they were seeing something amazing in the evening sky above their heads. It was a bird-like creature whose feathers were partly emerald-green and ruby-red-colored and white-colored at the bottom. The sky was glowing orange and red as the sun set (and the sunset progressed). As the bird kept flying it left a track of rainbow-colored sun rays.

Sophia and Bill had never seen such a beautiful sight.

"Is it a Pokémon?", Sophia asks.

"I guess so.," Bill answers as he check his Pokédex. It had no entry for that creature whatsoever. "Let's continue!"

"Use Wrap, Dratini!"

As Sophia had given Dratini her next command, the little dragon-like creature enveloped Bill's Machop with her whole body. Such a muscular force she had, that Machop could barely move his muscles and felt so much pain when he tried to do so.

"Can you free yourself from that tightness?", Bill asks him.

The Pokémon nods and Bill continues.

"Then use Cross Chop!"

Stretching his muscles, Machop loosens Dratini's Wrap and then raises one of his arms in the air before crossed both of them and punching Dratini with all of his might. Dratini falls on the ground lightly injured but still conscious.

"There is no giving up! We will continue!," Sophia exclaims. Dratini, upon hearing her saying so, opens her mouth and unleashes a beam of purple colored-energy towards Bill's Machop. It tries to evade the attack, but ends up getting hit and falling unconscious on the ground with twitching muscles.

"Are you feeling ok, Machop?", Bill questions his Pokémon.

"Yeah.", Machop answers in a weak tone of voice, opening its eyes and smiling.

"Dratini, what's up?", Sophia questions her little dragon-like friend. She was crying out in a lot of pain and was having a fever crisis. She was sweating a lot as well. Her face was looking very upset.

"I'm feeling sick.", Dratini whispers in an almost inaudible tone of voice, before falling asleep.

"We've got to take her to the Pokémon Center!", Bill shouts.

"As if I didn't already know that…", Sophia tells him, before starting running in the building direction, followed by her brother. Dratini was struggling in Sophia's lean arms. Indeed, both of them were feeling as an overheated Charizard.

X-X

The sky is pitch-black. The forest's trees' leaves move in a way that resembles tired dancers trying to keep up with the rhythm of the choreography. Wait. There's someone! It's a man! Who could it be?

"Blastoise!", the man yells, his eyes showing signs of fear. Each time the huge blue turtle-like creature moved, the ground trembled. The man tries to escape from it, but falls on the forest's ground.

"Aaaaah!", he shouts and then…

X-X

Sophia and Bill, accompanied by Isys, are waiting in Viridian Center's Pokémon Center's hall for Dratini's medical diagnosis to come to an end. They are sitting in the comfortable cotton couches of that room.

"What if… if… Dratini…", Sophia tries to say.

"Hey! You mustn't continue being so pessimistic. You should try being more optimistic for your own sake, especially.", her brother suggests her locking his gaze in her eyes.

"There will certainly be times when bad things will happen to all of us. But they can only be solved with optimistic thoughts. You can't make good decisions when your mind flooded with pessimistic ones.", Isys expresses, hoping these words would help out. Indeed they do.

"I don't know why I find it so difficult. I know I should but…"

"You'll certainly get here, eventually…", both of her friends tell her.

Nurse Joy leaves the operation room and walks until she is next to the three children. She had a concerned look in her blue-colored eyes.

"We have just finished all the medical tests to that Dratini of yours to decide the cause to its symptoms. But we couldn't."

Wide-eyes gazes cross between Sophia, Isys and Bill, before the nurse continues speaking.

"All her vital constants are perfectly healthy except for body temperature. You should let her rest in that bed until either we can decide why she's feeling that way or she starts feeling better."

"That way it will be, then.", Sophia decides. "We'll protect her from harm.", she declares. Her brother and friend look at her and then tell her:

"We'll make sure everything's completely safe for both of you."

"You two are the best friends I could have asked for.", Sophia answers emotionally touched by their words.

X-X

"Arcanine, do as I say!", a female police officer orders her Pokémon partner. The majestic canine-like creature howls and its orange-red fur trembles. The black-stripe-like marking on it temporarily seeming distorted as the big Pokémon fiercely and fearlessly steps forward, to get on the man, allowing the police officer to prevent him from escaping.

That possibility was now reduced to a pair of handcuffed hands which couldn't be freed.

"Good job, Arcanine!", the police officer congratules her Pokémon partner, while petting the creature. The Arcanine wags its tail and licks her face happily in response.

X-X

"Dinner's ready!", Bill shouts, warning his sister. She is doing some research in the Internet inside their Pokémon Center bedroom. Her curly blonde hair is shining brighter than the stars visible in the night sky if they looked through the bedroom's window.

"Huh? Already? I'm not ready yet!", Sophia complains. Her hazel-colored eyes scroll through the text in her computer's screen.

"That is something _really_, _REALLY _important!", Bill realizes. "I almost forgot that!" Bill stares at the computer's screen in confusion, while scratching his forehed. _I don't know how I have forgotten that. My sister always remembers everything and I always forget especially the most important matters._

"The first Pokémon Gym you'll have to battle at is Pewter City's. Ulwin City's has been closed for 3 months now."

"What Pokémon type will Terice City's Pokémon Gym be focused in? And why has this city's been closed?"

"Brock is a Dragon-type Pokémon Gym Leader. As for the other question I have no idea.," Sophia replies.

_I need... to practice my new combinations for upcoming Pokémon Contests..._

"My Machop might have a nice advantage against Brock's Pokémon. The problem is he's got three Pokémon and I've only got one."

_I know! My second Pokémon's got to be a Starmie._

Sophia was also thinking, but it was her second try to think about her Contests' performances and she just couldn't figure anything out.

"Let's go eat! I'm hungry!", Sophia suggests.

They leave the bedroom, walk through the long corridor in the first floor of the Pokémon Center, descend the stairs and find themselves in the ground floor. Professor Rowan, or Uncle Rowan, as they called him, was waiting near one of computers in the Pokémon Center's hall. The man seemed a little intimidating due to his physical appearance, but he was worth talking to. He had two Pokéballs in his hands.

"Uncle!", Sophia and Bill simultaneously shout, hugging their uncle.

"I came here all the way from the Sinnoh Region to congratulate you two for starting you own Pokémon journies. Please accept these gifts from me.," he tells them, while handing a Pokéball to each one of them. The children were excited.

"Let's open them!", they shout and, some seconds after they had tossed the Pokéballs into the air, two creatures emerge from inside of them and appear in front of them. One of them is similar to a water snake, with beautiful glowing scales in its pale-yellow body. The other, a tiny bird-like one, whose feathers were black and white. Its smalls beak was orange and black at the tip and straight.

"Milotic!", Sophia happily shouts. She'd played a lot with Milotic in her holidays in Sinnoh, when she was younger.

"I missed you too, Sophia...", Milotic lets Sophia know, as she embraces her.

"Oh... It's a Starly! Cool!"

"I'm glad you like me.", the Starly tells him, flying and landing on his left shoulder.

Sophia heard it too, but Rowan only hear a soft coo from the small bird-like creature.

"Hey... Why don't you nickname your Pokémon?", he suggests them.

Starly and Milotic look toward their Trainers belts, as two Pokéballs open, unleashing a white beam of light. When it took form, Machop and Scyther, along with Starly and Milotic walk until they are next to their Trainers' feet. They smile.

"We'll have nicknames!", the Pokémon happily shout.

"Scyther... Your nickname will be Fayether! Dratini's will be Kumi! Milotic's will be Lexie!"

"Nice! I like it!," the three Pokémon simultaneosly answer.

"Now's my turn! Machop... Tonga? Starly... Betelgeuse? _Battlejazz_?"

"Yeah!"

"There you go...", Rowan says. "I hope you all get along nicely."

X-X

"What? How did _that_ happen?", a police officer asks a colleague of hers.

"I don't know. When I went to check him out he wasn't there.", her colleague explains. "This is bad."

"We have to find him and get him back to his prison cell."

"Arcanine, lead the way!"

A Pokéball is tossed into the air and, when it open, an Arcanine comes out of it.

He starts running forward and the two police officers follow him.

X-X

"How are you feeling?", Sophia asks her Dratini. Kumi widens her eyes.

"Better.", she answers Sophia's question, her tone of voice sad and weak.

"We've nicknamed you all.", Sophia and Bill tell Kumi. "Including Milotic and Starly."

"Huh? Milotic and Starly?", Dratini asks.

Sophia remembers neither of them had yet told Dratini about their new journey companions.

"Uncle Rowan gave them to us!"

"Oh... Cool!"

"AAAAAAAH!", Isys shouts.

Bill and Sophia ask her what's the problem.

"My Pokémon was stolen again!"

"_What_?", both of them angrily ask.

"Dratini, we'll be back soon! I promise!"

All three of them start running toward the Pokémon Center's hall. Since their plan to catch the hunter had failed, they now had to help Isys get her Pokémon back. He was a middle-aged scary-looking man.

"So... You want to help your friend... Too bad! You must battle me! I won't give it back! At least not without a fight!"

His voice was as scary as his looks, but Sophia and Bill didn't let themselves be intimidated.

The man throws forward two Pokéballs, which open and unleash a Blastoise and a Raticate, which walk toward him.

The Raticate was a big rat-like creature whose light-brown fur was heightened in its body. His underbelly was cream-colored.

The Blastoise, on the other hand, was a big blue turtle-like creature.

"_Blastoise. Water-type. Blastoise can break even the strongest metals with a single punch. When throwing water out of the two cannons in its carapace, it can make it reach a speed of 60 miles per hour._"

"_Raticate. Norma-type. Raticate's well-developed teeth enable it to gnaw anything it wants to. They're its main battle weapons._"

Bill and Sophia choose to use Starly and Milotic. Blastoise stomps the floor and Raticate clacks his teeth, readying them to bite either of the opposing Pokémon.

Starly takes off and swings his wings in the air.

Milotic moves her tail and the scales in her body shine brightly, reflecting in all colors as light illuminates them.

"Use Growl!", Bill orders Battlejazz.

"Use Hidden Power!", Sophia orders Lexie.

Battlejazz flaps his wings, opens his beak and launches a growl-like sound at Raticate and Blastoise.

Lexie opens her mouth, her body waving as if she was swimming. Two big yellow-colored energy orbs are unleash by it towards the opponents.

They would have dodge it if they hadn't been distracted by Battlejazz's growl.

However, that wasn't enough to defeat them.

"Blastoise, Rapid Spin!" Raticate, Hyper Fang!", the hunter commands his Pokémon.

Blastoise retreats to the insides of his carapace, jumps and starts spinning rapidly in the air.

Raticate runs in Lexie's direction with his teeth projected forward.

"Dodge!", Bill and Sophia order at the same time.

"Growl!"

"Dragon Tail!"

Lexie and Battlejazz swiftly evade the attacks.

Battlejazz growls just as before, while Lexie's tail shines in a bright cyan-blue tone of color.

Lexie slams her tail into the two other Pokémon and hits them both in a single move.

X-X

After a while, Blastoise is the only opponent's Pokémon still standing in the battlefield.

It unleashes its most powerful attack, hoping it would defeat Battlejazz and Lexie. He unleashes a huge torrent of water from the cannons in his carapace towards Battlejazz and Lexie.

"Dodge that Hydro Cannon!"

However, Lexie acts boldly. She steps in front of Battlejazz and takes the attack head on. She ends up taking it as if it had been nothing. She slams her tail into Blastoise, causing him to finally faint.

"You two were just lucky. There's no way I could otherwise have been beat by such kids as you two."

Then he runs away, leaving behind the Pokéball containing Isys' Pokémon partner.

"Would you like to see my first Pokémon partner?", Isys asks, before continuing. "I used it in the Admission Contest."

"Sure!", Bill and Sophia exclaim.

Isys opens her Pokéball and not too soon after she had done so, a little dinosaur-like creature appeared next to her. Its green skin was covered with blue-green spots and he had a bulb on his back.

"_Bulbasaur. Grass- and Poison-type. The bulb implanted on Bulbasaur's back is put there when it is born. It uses the nutrients accumulated in it to perform to get nutrients to perform its techniques and to prepare itself for evolution._"

"It's a cool Pokémon!"

"Let's practice for the next Contest!"

"Sure!"

Bill decides to be the judge.

"Each of you will use one Pokémon!"

"Go, Bulbasaur!"

"Fayether, come on out!"

Sophia's Bug- and Flying-type mantis-like creature leaves its Pokéball flying for a little period of time, before landing in front of her.

"Use False Swipe! And the follow it up with U-turn!"

Fayether runs toward Bulbasaur with blinding speed, pretending to be about to attack in a certain way. When it moves out of the way, he slashes it.

Before it could recover from this attack, he performs a U-turn and causes it even more damage.

Bulbasaur manages to get up, though it's panting and breathing heavily. He isn't about to give up yet.

Upon Isys' command, it throws a group of razor leafs in Fayether's direction in hopes of landing some damage on him. Fayether, however, cuts them with his blade-like hands.

Then, Bulbasaur tries to trap Fayether on dark-green-colored vines unleashed from the bulb on its back, but he manages to grab them and throws Bulbasaur throw the air. Fayether collides with it after performing another U-turn and it falls unconscious on the ground. Its bulb was glowing brightly.

"Bulbasaur! Are you okay?", Isys asks her Pokémon.

"Saur!"

Sophia and Bill both knew he had said "Yes!". They still had to discover why.

"This battle was awesome!"

Isys nods, before taking her Pokémon to the Pokémon Center.

A Pokémon randomly appears next to Sophia's left side. It is very geometrical. It was blue and pink.

"_Porygon. Normal-type. Porygon is the first Pokémon artificially created. It's programmed only with basic motions. People are eager to test it in any environment. It can travel through cyberspace._"

"I want to catch it!", Sophia shouts. "Return, Fayether!"

"Come on out, Lexie!"

Lexie now stood in front of the Porygon, awaiting orders from Sophia.

"Use Dragon Tail!"

Lexie's tail shines brightly in a blue color and it then is slammed into Porygon's body.

It reacts by reducing its polygon count, therefore raising its Attack stat.

"Watch out, Lexie! It's using Sharpen!"

Lexie unleashes a torrent of hot water toward Porygon, causing it a bit of pain.

"Hidden Power!"

Yellow-colored energy orbs are thrown toward Porygon and it faints.

Sophia throws a Pokéball toward it and, after a while, the Pokéball stops shaking and the red flashing in its center button turns white and stops flashing.

Both Sophia and Lexie smile.

"Way to go! I caught a Porygon!"

**Sophia's Kumi-tment with her dreams and friends is really high. Hot stuff is coming up and will be the icing over fun's cake. Please read and review! Look forward to the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Fierce Roar, More Pierce

**Chapter 4 for the Fanfic "Braving Slaika"**

**~ Fierce Roar, More Pierce ~**

Bill walking in a sandy area, similar to a beach. Such a sight could be real, but he is dreaming. Next to him are his sister, Sophia, and his two Pokémon, his Machop and his Starly.

While they calmly walk on the soft pale-yellow-colored sand it oscillates below their feet. The turquoise-blue-colored calm sea water barely forms waves and the ones it forms are almost unnoticeable. Also, the serenity they give off is warm for them not to feel the cold air rushing toward the sea.

Next to the sea water's surface many creatures appear. They had different shapes, sizes and colours.

One of them was similar to a sea star. Its purple body had ten pointed ends and a red gem at the center.

They enter the water and start playing all together.

X-X

_You surely have had at least a day when everything seems to be planned to go wrong._

For Sophia and Bill one of them was the fourth day of their journeys. Upon waking up to a morning of sunny weather, the sky comparable to an exultant indigo-blue aerial river, they get dressed.

They then go to the room where Kumi has been resting for more than a day, only to find out her health condition had worsened way more than they had expected. (I'm not saying they had desired such a thing!...)

Unfortunately, that was just the start of a whole day from a memory of which relatively few good memories came to their minds. On the contrary, on their mind ended up resting more burdens than they could have predicted.

"What could be causing Kumi to be still unhealthy?", Bill asks, pointing at the sad small blue dragon-like creature uncalmly sleeping in a bed in the same room.

"I-I wonder myself."

The nurse in service talks with a dejected crying Sophia for a while.

"Do you like poems?"

"Y-yes."

"Would you like to hear one from me now?"

"Maybe."

"It'll make you happier."

"You may read me a poem if you think it'll change anything now."

"Why are you so pessimistic?"

"Do I have any other option?"

"Of course you do. As a good Trainer and friend you should give a good example to your Pokémon. And that's an optimistic one.

"I'm going to do it for Dratini!"

"I want to be the one

To drag(on) you into

What you're afraid of experiencing.

Although my size is small,

My potential is tall and feral.

Cuteness and beauty mustn't be underestimated.

For they can be as destructive as

Ugliness and harmlessness."

"W-What?"

"Huh?"

"It's n-nothing..."

"Sister... I can tell you're hiding something from me."

"I'm worried about Kumi!"

"She'll be alright sooner than what you think."

"How would you know that?"

"I just do now it."

"I bet you aren't saying that just to comfort me..."

"I'd tell you if I knew."

_My brother sometimes says surprising things..._

"I still have to nickname my Porygon."

As she says this, one of her Pokéballs opens itself. Porygon had heard Sophia and wanted to help her decide his nickname.

"Egon? Eanyon? Rubik?"

Porygon smiled at the last one.

"Do you like Rubik?"

"Yeah!"

Bill smiles. He was about to tells Sophia about his dream, but before he could, Nurse Joy walks into the recovery room, with a relieved look on her face and her pink wavy hair waving them "Hi".

"I see... Your Dratini is recovering totally well now. I figured out what caused her to become ill.

"Please tell me!"

"I think it's somehow related to the Legendary Dragons."

"Which dragons!? How could they be related to this?"

I wouldn't know, though."

_Or, at least, I need to pretend so for now._

"Well, at least now we have some clues."

Kumi wakes up and licks Sophia's left cheek once she gets next to her.

"Will everything be alright now, Sophia?"

"Yes, hopefully, everything will be fine now, Kumi..."

"What do you mean 'hopefully'?"

"W-Well, y-you know... I-I could be wrong..."

_Uh oh! I was supposed to answer this! What do I do know!?_

As Sophia was wondering this in her mind, her Dratini was crying. She was so scared!

_How can I be optimistic if even my Trainer isn't?_

_I've got to calm her down!_

"Hey, Kumi! I-I'm s-sorry! I didn't mean to scare you even more than you already were! I really didn't!"

"Do you really believe everything will be alright?"

_I really don't, but I can't afford to cause one of my friends even more pain._

"Yes, Kumi. I do."

_She's really trying to seem optimistic, though _I know she hasn't changed her point of view.

"Hey, Sophia! I had a strange dream!"

"What did you dream, Kumi?"

"I dreamt I was in some lake, which had crystal-clear water. Then, 4 creatures I'd never seen approached me. I saw the lake burning in blue flares, being illuminated in a blinding light, becoming distorted and then I was shown a timeline of events I didn't remember!"

"Do you any idea why you dreamt that?"

"They said some trouble was brewing and that the Chosen Ones (me and my Trainer had to help them)."

"Wonder what we've been chosen to do!"

"We'll soon discover, believe me!"

"Kumi! Are you...? Kumi? Kumi!", Sophia asks her Dratini. Kumi was staring blankly and wide-eyed at nowhere in particular.

Despite Sophia's tries to snap her back to reality, she just ignored her Trainer. Her eyes were glowing purple and, before the two kids knew, she sneaks out of the bed in front of them.

"Sophia? Where's your Dratini going?"

"Does it look like I know?"

"Well, then... We should follow her."

"Do you think we should do that?"

"Kumi needs help. She's a week old. She's not fully recovered yet. You're her Trainer and friend!"

"Huh... I-I still think we shouldn't follow her."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm scared! She could be mad at me after I made her so scared earlier. I really messed up.

"Come on, sister! Everybody messes up at least once in a while! What makes a change is learning from your mistakes!"

"I don't care! I don't deserve to be a Trainer! I don't even think my Pokémon will obey me after hearing about what happened with Kumi!"

"You're overreacting! Quit acting like that! Both of us know you couldn't care more about Kumi! But that's not my point!"

"Then... WHAT'S YOUR POINT?"

"No need to shout like that! Or do you want to make me deaf?"

"I don't! I just don't understand why we should follow Kumi!"

"Because you're her Trainer and friend! Do you want Team Rocket to her from you? Do you want to see her everyday or never again?"

_He's got a good point there._

X-X

"Sir... I mean... boss!"

"Yes, Roger?"

"The cloning machine is ready to work again when you want it to. When should that be?"

"Not yet. Test all the proceedings until I order Project S1 to get underway!"

"Roger! Come here now!"

"Huh? Is something the problem, boss?"

"Yes. You said you'd successfully cloned that Scyther."

"I did and it's true!"

"Then how is it possible it destroyed the machine as much as it did?"

"It got twice the strength and size it was supposed to get."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get it here (alive) at all costs!"

**What will happen next? Will Sophia decide to follow her Dratini? What surprises could this story provide you with? Stay tuned and you'll discover!**


	6. Chapter 5 - Project S1's Introduction

**Chapter 5 for the Fanfic "Braving Slaika"**

**~ Project S1's Introduction ~**

Giovanni looks at the talk man's figure in front of him in the Team Thunder Tempest HQ Lab. His hair was wavy and coal-black and he was one of Jiaho's best agents ever.

"Roger, is the research for Project S1 complete?"

"Yes, sir! I mean... boss!"

"What did you discover?"

"Well, that Scyther had a gene called S1 that made him have twice the strength and the size normal for his species. He destroyed the cloning machine because of that, but it's fixed now."

"Well done! And what about Stage 1? Is it underway?"

"Yes, boss! My Alakazam took care of mind controlling the girl's Dratini!"

"What will happen is something in Stage 1 fails?"

"Alakazam is taking careful measures to make everything work out as it is supposed, but... Otherwise the Dratini will end up with amnesia..."

"Not bad, not bad..."

"Wait, didn't I tell you to get the Scyther?"

"You did."

"Then why did you get to Dratini instead?"

"Oops..."

X-X

"Sophia!"

"What, Bill?"

"Found a strange building!"

"Uh..."

Indeed, the building was very strange. It looked like an abandoned mall that, but, for some reason it didn't seem abandoned at all.

"Do you think Dratini is inside of this?"

"Maybe."

"Let's go!"

Once they enter inside of the building, they hear voices.

"Who could this be?"

"We should stay quiet..."

"Like I was saying, those two kids can't do a thing to stop us, because if they do, this Dratini will end up forgetting them!"

"Ahahahahahah!"

"Muahahahahahahah!"

"Did you hear that Bill?"

"I sure did! It seems like we're in a bind now."

"We can't let Kumi forget us! And we can't let her suffer like that due to those two men!"

"I really don't know what we can do to help her!"

They hear a fox's howl followed by two cries they had never heard before.

Then, a Fennekin and a Vigran come running toward them.

_We'll help you! We know how to!_

_Yes! If you defeat their Pokémon without making those machines explode, nothing bad will happen..._

_Well, at least not for you!..._

"Let's go!"

Sophia and Bill were worried. What would happen if they failed to do as these Pokémon at told them?

The men exchange glances with them.

"What do you kids want?"

"Um... We want our Pokémon back!"

"You don't believe we'll do that, do you?"

"You will even if we have to force you!"

The men start laughing loudly.

"You either do it pleasantly or else..."

"Or else what? Ahahahaah! What will kids like you two do?"

"Maybe a battle will solve this!"

"If that's what you want! But don't go crying calling your moms when you lose!"

Each of the men throws a Pokéball forward.

Out of one of the round ball-like objects, comes a magnet-like creature. Its body was grey and had two magnetic poles (one red and one blue) marked on its were-to-be hands.

Its single eye's pupil portrayed a mean look.

"_Magnemite. Electric- and Steel-type. They place themselves on electrical wires to feed on the electricity flowing through them._"

The other creature was similar to a Great Ball. Its top half was blue and bottom half was white. Its eyes also had a mean look in them.

"_Voltorb. Electric-type. Its body works as a small electrode. When bored, it likes to surprise people and Pokémon by exploding next to them._"

"Hey, you two! Let's defeat them!"

The two Pokémon (Fennekin and Vigran) nod and start attacking right away.

The Fennekin launches flurry of flames at the opponents.

Vigran does the same with a dark-green-grayish-colored aura orb.

"Ah! Ember and Hidden Power? You'll need more than that to defeat these two!"

The Magnemite and the Voltorb didn't even bother evading the two incoming attacks.

The Magnemite spin fastly, makes a white blast of sound and throws it forward.

The Voltorb rolls in Fennekin's direction, preparing its first attack. Then it creates a small explosion, surrounding itself and the Magnemite with a blinding flash and with small yellow electric currents.

_Tsk! Are those even called attacks? Weak Sonicboom, Explosion and Thundershocks! Ready to show them what those look like?_

_You bet!_, the caterpillar-like Vigran agrees with the fox-like Fennekin.

They roll on their sides to evade the attacks and then surprise the two kids and the two men present with their well-timed elemental attacks, which they had used before (Ember and Hidden Power Dark Bug).

"AH! HOW DID YOU...!?"

_Were you ready for your revenge?_

_Doesn't look like they were!_

"AARRGGHH! OUR POKÉMON FAINTED!"

_Already? I though they'd last longer..._

_How would they? They didn't stand a chance against us!_

"We still have two!"

They throw two more Pokéballs forward.

"That's not fair!"

"Like we care! Orkril, go!"

"You too, Fiarsome!"

_Don't worry!_

_Let's move!_

The "killer whale"-like Orkril rushes to the Fennekin's side and hits him with a close-range stream of bubbles.

_Are you okay?_

_Sure! Bubblebeam! GGGGRRRR!_

A tackle from the Fennekin hits a surprised Orkril, while one from the Vigran does the same to the Fiarsome.

The Arcanine's evolved form, Fiarsome, with four times the height, weight, speed and strength of a normally trained Arcanine, tries to bite its attacker.

The Vigran jumps out of the way, only to be hit by a ring-shaped set of flames from the Fiarsome.

_OW!_

As he keeps tumbling forward, the Fiarsome runs forward, faster than a cheetah running a short distance.

_No you don't!_

Before it could hit its target, a group of green flames from the Fennekin hits it.

_Thanks!_, the Vigran mumbles under his breath.

_Baby, you're a firework!_

_Let's show them our worth!_

As the Fennekin crashes into the Fiarsome with a fiery explosion, the Vigran envelops himself with a dark-green-blackish aura and launches himself at Orkril.

Fiarsome defends himself by creating a fiery explosion of his own.

Orkril launches a scalding watterfall-like torrent of water at the Vigran.

The resulting clashing attacks cause a huge explosion and surround the battlefield with flames, smoke and steam.

"Can you believe the show these two have been giving?"

"I just hope they're ok."

They worriedly look at the battlefield.

**Who won this battle? Are the Fennekin and the Vigran alright? Will Sophia and Bill get Kumi back?**


	7. Chapter 6 - Emotional Drive

**Chapter 6 for the Fanfic "Braving Slaika"**

**~ Emotional Drive ~**

Once the battlefield was clearly visible, all four Pokémon who had taken part in the second round of the battle were panting and breathing heavily on the lab's tiled ground. Fennekin and Vigran had been thrown against the room's iron entrance door. Even though Orkril and Fiarsome hadn't, the tension plus the damage had been too high, and they lay fainted on the ground.

_We... ahhmm... won... ahhmm... the... ahhmm... battle!_

_Yell "yeah!"_

_Don't you mean "hell yeah"?_

The two burst out laughing.

Sophia and Bill couldn't express their relief.

"Those two aren't even hurt!"

_What did you expect?_

_Yeah! It's not like we would have been!_

"We won!", Sophia exclaims, petting the Fennekin's and the Vigran's heads.

Both of the Pokémon's appearances made them look extremely cute and cool.

The Fennekin was a small fox-like creature. His fur was cream in his underbelly, and orange in almost of the rest of his body. In his medium-sized head were visible his two medium-sized oval eyes, whose pupils were honey-colored. Reaching out from the insides of his long ears came red hairs, the same color of those present in the tip of his tail.

The Vigran's body was dark-brown-blackish. His small tail also had mixed of brown and light-orange tones of color and his belly had them in yellow and silver tones of color. Small white dots covered the most fragile parts of his head and belly. His big round eyes' pupils were grass-green-colored.

"Time to hand back my Dratini!"

"Think again, girl!"

"Everything's finished in Stage 1!"

"Then, get Stage 2 underway, Roger!"

"Right away!"

And with that, they are suddenly teleported somewhere else, along with their papers and machines.

"Where did they go?"

"They're going to give me Kumi!"

_I wouldn't do that if I were you._

_Do what?_

_What she's thinking. It just won't work._

"If we sneaked on them we could safely get Kumi back!"

"How can we sneak on them if we don't know where they are?"

"And, besides, it's almost night."

"Let's head back to the Pokémon Center."

X-X

That night, Bill and Sophia had a terrible nightmare. They lay on the floor and were surrounded by men in white vest. They could hear nothing and could only feel pain. They had nothing with them, not even their clothes.

X-X

Upon waking up to a morning's sky comparable to an exultant cyan-blue aerial river flowing through a mountainous, Sophia and Bill get dressed. After getting into the Viridian City's Pokémon Center's hall, they notice Isys is waiting for them.

"How did it go yesterday?"

"Not too badly."

"Not too well."

Isys just stood in front of them, glancing curiously at them.

"What do you mean?"

X-X

After having told Isys what had happened, she gave them an understanding smile.

"You'll get her back soon!"

"Wish I believed that!"

"Sophia! Be reasonable!"

"Yeah! That's not like you'll lose her forever!"

"Says who?"

"We!"

"Why?"

"We don't think that's possible."

"Even after hearing K-Kumi could forget us all after this is o-over?"

"Uh... Y-Yes!"

"You don't."

"Why would you say that? We do!"

"Why did you stutter, then?"

"Hey, why don't we go eat breakfast?"

"You go. I don't want to eat breakfast."

Sophia runs away, crying, leaving behind her two very worried friends.

"She's not taking this well."

"Then again, she's the one most directly suffering with this."

X-X

"I'm going to get Kumi back and, if she forget us, I'll bring her memories back no matter what!"

Sophia cries for a long period of time.

"Maybe I should also forget this journey and stay at home for a year before returning to school. Yes. Yes. I'll do that after I find Kumi. It's not fair that my Pokémon friends have to suffer because of me!"

Bill and Isys find Sophia crying while saying this, sitting in a bench next the Center's front entrance.

"Sis'! We understand you're upset."

"But we can't let you give up on your dreams like that!"

"Forget it! I'll find Kumi and then explain it all to my Pokémon and to our parents, Bill!"

"No, don't! Mom and dad will not let me go on a journey afterwards!"

"Bill you're important to me. And so are my Pokémon! I can't do this to them! I wouldn't be a good friend to them!"

"This way you'll not be a good friend to me!"

Oops! I shouldn't have said this!

"Is that what you think, Bill!?"

Sophia runs away from Bill and Isys again, crying even more than before.

Tsk! They call themselves friends of Sophia's!?

Not friends! Even enemies would be better friends!

X-X

"Are you ok?"

"Go awa-... OH! It's you two, Fennekin and Vigran!"

"My name's Larry and the Vigran's Morty. We're your friends unlike those two!"

"Thanks!"

"Can we join you?"

"Sure!"

"Is all of that true? That you want to give up on your journey?"

"Yes."

"We understan your reasons."

"Problem is: you sure you're not rushing this decision?"

"I am not sure."

"Any idea where you can find your Dratini?"

"Maybe."

"Let's follow her!"

X-X

"Boss, Stage 2 is complete! Stages 3 to 5 have been started!" "Well done, Roger! Send the Dratini back to the girl!"

"Roger!"

Kumi's irises flash bright dark-blue before returning to their normal hazelnut color.

X-X

"There! Kumi! Kumi! Kumi! Kumi! Kumi? Kumi! It's me, Sophia!", she shouts to the Dratini swimming in the same lake where she had first found her.

"She didn't recognise you."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at her."

It was then the realization struck her as thunder would have. Her Dratini had ignored her! She couldn't believe

it!

"Do you think-..."

"I'm sorry of it. Sorry Sophia. I know your friendship relationship well enough. She wouldn't have ignored you

under any other circumstances."

Sophia starts crying (yet again).

"Why? Why did this have to happen to me!?"

"Calm down."

"How!?"

"Just relax and follow our lead, ok?"

"Ok."

"Hey, Kumi!"

This was the key moment. If Kumi hadn't lost her memories...

"Huh? Are you calling me?"

"Well... Isn't your name Kumi?"

"I don't remember. And, apparently, I'm a Dratini now."

"Uh-oh! This is worse than what we had expected!"

"Yeah! Sure is!"

But Sophia couldn't hear them. Only her mind, pain and tears. Kumi had lost her memories, her best friend had

forgotten everything! Everything! And it was entirely her fault! She was the one to blame for that! Not even

crying made her feel better, but she couldn't stop.

_I'll never do this mistake again! Never again, for Arceus's sake! I shouldn't have hoped she wouldn't forget_

_anything! I knew it would happen independently of my hopes!_

**Will Kumi ever remember Sophia and her Pokémon? Will Sophia ever forgive Bill and Isys? There's only one way to**

**know...**


End file.
